The Great Way to Truth, Starting from Jiazi Laodao

Chapter 289 The Great Zhou and the Great Ming

Hidden Peak, Seeking the Way Academy.

After the powerful figure departed, Xuanming went into seclusion once more.

Sitting cross-legged on the futon, he took out several auspicious pouches containing rare and precious materials and found two strands of the source of pure energy from the heavens.

This is his smuggled secret; having many powerful individuals search for it together is far more efficient than searching alone.

One strand was solemnly sealed and carefully stored away, while the other strand was sent to Tai Xuan Heaven. Daoist Yu Chen was overjoyed, opened his mouth and swallowed it, laughing loudly: "Fellow Daoist truly keeps his word."

He then went into seclusion within the Taoist palace.

Upon hearing this, Xuanming smiled, calmed his mind, took out the jade slip given to him by the Heavenly Southern Divine Lord, and began to read and study it.

The mysteries of this world unfolded before him, and with the blessing of the Yellow Court Qi, his comprehension was incredibly high.

He comprehended all sorts of mysteries.

He has thoroughly understood the profound truths.

He also analyzed the Investiture of the Gods technique, comparing it with his own knowledge, learning from its strengths and compensating for its weaknesses, discarding the dross and retaining the essence.

Xuanming's mastery of the divine arts advanced by leaps and bounds, and his art of bestowing gods gradually became more perfect. He shared his insights with the gods, and the Five Elders of the Five Directions, Emperor Gouchen, and Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun all gained something from it.

The world is a huge makeshift operation.

It's always been a case of one act ending and another beginning.

Just as Xuanming and the eight great powers were busy refining the Earth God Ranking, and Zhu Wu was rising rapidly in the Dafeng Dynasty, the three great dynasties made new moves.

After several rounds of discussions and negotiations, they began to merge and set out to form the Divine Dynasty Alliance, preparing to establish the Great Zhou Divine Dynasty. Within the Divine Dynasty, three emperors coexisted, symbolizing the three powers of Heaven, Earth, and Man. Each emperor was originally the ruler of one of the three great Divine Dynasties, and each held a portion of the power. If a decision was not reached, the minority would submit to the majority.

In addition, there are five emperors who assist, symbolizing the five elements, representing aristocratic families, sects, rogue cultivators, ghosts, and demons. Each of them has powerful figures backing them up. For example, the ghosts are backed by powerful figures from the underworld, aristocratic families are backed by Confucian sages, and rogue cultivators are backed by powerful figures from various schools.

These are all allies that the three major powers can win over.

With the unification of the human world and the flourishing of fortune, which would benefit powerful cultivators, and given that their forces had long been entangled with the three great divine dynasties, these powerful beings agreed.

With the emergence of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the world order changed dramatically, and the situation gradually became clear, presenting a tripartite balance of power.

One group was led by the Great Zhou Dynasty, another by Xuanming and the Eight Great Powers, and the third remained neutral.

After the Great Zhou Dynasty was initially established, the army set out to conquer the Great Feng Dynasty, aiming to completely destroy it and unify the world.

The Dafeng Dynasty was on high alert and urgently mobilized its troops. Behind the scenes, the Qiu royal family and the Taiping Rebellion were making moves, while powerful forces in the same camp temporarily stood by and watched.

These powerful figures knew that they supported Zhu Wu, not the Dafeng Dynasty. At most, they would lend a helping hand if the latter could not hold on. The important thing was Zhu Wu.

Both the Qiu royal family and the Taiping Cult are divided into two hidden factions. One part of the Qiu royal family is secretly controlled by the Qiu family patriarch, going through the motions but not putting in any real effort, while also observing Zhu Wu; the other part is unwilling to accept the demise of the Qiu royal family and the surrender of its years of foundation, and is struggling in its death throes.

The same applies to the two factions within the Taiping Sect. One faction still adheres to its ideals and wants to build a prosperous world where all races are equal; the other faction has long been succumbing to fame, fortune, and power, and is overly self-serving.

The Taiping Dao mainly wanted to take this opportunity to eliminate long-standing problems, remove these followers and high-ranking members, and use their remaining energy to protect the Dafeng Dynasty and buy time for Zhu Wu to grow.

A great war broke out between the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Great Feng Dynasty.

Zhu Wu always led from the front, winning more battles than he lost. He was exceptionally intelligent and strong, and he shared weal and woe with his soldiers. In addition to winning the hearts and minds of his troops, he stood out in the major battles where he suffered repeated defeats, gained attention, and rose through the ranks.

Of course, things were not peaceful within the Great Zhou Dynasty itself.

This was because the divine dynasty had only recently been established, and various conflicts of interest had not yet been fully resolved, and also because the divine system was unstable.

Tiannan Divine Lord is the leader of the divine path. He explicitly supports the Seeking Truth view, which has attracted most of the gods in the world to follow him. No matter how prosperous the Great Zhou Divine Dynasty is, it can only control the minor gods of the human path below the level of cultivating gods. It has little power to restrain the great gods of the natural side and the great gods who have cultivated the divine path Dharma body.

Many powerful deities outwardly comply but inwardly defy them, even openly changing their ways, including the Divine Emperor. ———

A storm is brewing in the world.

The number of ghosts in the underworld has also increased due to human conflicts.

During this process, the underworld operated smoothly, recruiting many capable soldiers and generals, and the other ghosts were also properly settled.

Compared to before, life is much more peaceful now.

The order of Yin and Yang is beginning to emerge, benefiting all living beings and bringing more favor to the underworld.

Even if some powerful beings in the underworld formed the Six Heavenly Palaces, a force corresponding to the underworld, they could not compare with the underworld. On the contrary, due to the underworld's well-established system, they were overshadowed and fell into the dust.

Xuanming paid no heed to the changing winds of the world; he devoted himself to studying the art of divine consecration and benefited greatly from it.

A year later, all the great powers arrived as promised.

After some discussion, the Lord of Taiping Dao continued with his own affairs, only intervening at crucial moments to make a decisive move. The remaining eight powerful figures were divided into two groups: one group observed the situation and guarded against any changes, while also promoting the Investiture of the Gods plan; the other group was responsible for refining the Earth God Ranking.

Before it began, Xuanming, Tiannan Shenjun, Lingyao Tianjun, and the three powerful beings of the Three Paths first used the Qiankun Furnace of the Taiping Dao Master to reforge the Bagua Furnace. Together, they spent two years upgrading the Bagua Furnace to a spiritual treasure.

They immediately divided the work: Xuanming refined it alone, while Tiannan Divine Lord, Lingyao Heavenly Lord, and the Three Paths Great Power refined another part.

In the weapon-refining room of Fuyun Mountain, the true fire roared. Xuanming poured in materials and methodically refined the treasure, while summoning the blessings and assistance of the gods.

Over the years, the gods have all made progress in their cultivation.

Thanks to the war between the human world and the underworld, Emperor Gouchen has achieved the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top of His Head and attained the position of a divine emperor.

After leaving Leize, the Antarctic Longevity Emperor went to the Sun Star to cultivate and regulate the vital energy of heaven and earth, and also achieved the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top of the Head.

Among the Five Elders of the Five Directions, three have already achieved the status of Divine Emperors: in addition to the Yellow Extreme Yellow Horn Immortal, there are also the Red Emperor and the Black Emperor.

However, Xuanming had more important things to do, so the fire and water elements were not yet fully formed.

Houtu Niangniang also rose to the rank of Great Goddess due to the development of the Underworld. The divine light of the Six Paths of Reincarnation behind her became more solid. Because of this, the Underworld received more favor from the Netherworld's fortune and was favored by the Underworld Dao. It vaguely showed the trend of becoming the orthodox Netherworld.

Of course, what made Xuanming the happiest was the Supreme Daoist. After digesting the source of pure energy and cultivating in seclusion for a period of time, he had become a great power. With his help and the assistance of the gods, Xuanming was able to refine the Earth God Ranking with half the effort, and the efficiency was no less than that of the three gods working together.

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Time flies, and five years have passed in the blink of an eye.

The true fire inside the Bagua Furnace and the Qiankun Furnace never goes out.

During this period, many powerful figures exchanged their values, but Xuanming remained irreplaceable, as he was the main force in refining the Earth God Ranking.

It is irreplaceable.

Even the Lord of Taiping Dao cannot compare.

The world was in turmoil that year.

The Earth God Ranking has been successfully completed.

The Dafeng Dynasty changed hands, with the emperor abdicating in favor of Zhu Wu, who held great power and enjoyed popular support.

On the day of his coronation.

He changed Dafeng to Daming.

(End of this chapter)